---
title: "From Cold Email to the Boardroom — An Agency Sales Story"
description: "A real story of how one cold email turned into a board-level relationship. The strategy, the message, and the follow-through."
url: https://timkilroy.com/blog/from-a-cold-email-to-the-board-of-directors
date: 2021-06-24
updated: 2026-02-23T23:58:31Z
category: "Sales"
author: Tim Kilroy
---

# From Cold Email to the Boardroom — An Agency Sales Story

_A real story of how one cold email turned into a board-level relationship. The strategy, the message, and the follow-through._


**Can I tell you a quick story?** This one unfolds over a long period of time...but it goes to [show you the power of cold e-mail](https://timkilroy.com/cold-email) to create amazing relationships. In 2013, I started my 3rd agency. I know who we were going to serve & I had a good idea of how we were going to bring value to the clients. After I registered the domain, spruced up my LinkedIn profile, and put on a clean shirt, I decided to go get clients. So, I started where I always start - who needs my help the most? Because I am old, I have a pretty good LinkedIn network...so I started there. I saw an old colleague got a new job. She and I had not worked at the same company for 5 years and she was someone whom I did not know well enough to do more than say hello to if we passed in the hall. I checked out her new company, saw that there were ways that we could add a ton of value. So I zipped off a pretty cold e-mail to her. It hit the mark and after a few calls and a visit, her company became our 1st customer (I have a picture of that $6500 check somewhere). We worked together for about 2 years. And during that time, I worked with the CMO, and glancingly with the CEO. I had 1 or 2 meetings with the CEO...nothing huge...but I focused on being as honest, insightful and as helpful as I could be. Flash forward to last week - I got an e-mail from the CEO, asking if I had time for a chat. During the call, he invited me to join their board of directors - a huge honor. I don't mean this to brag - but I want to show you the power of a connection that started with a cold e-mail. Obviously, the 2013 cold e-mail had no impact on last week's call, but it was the cold e-mail that lead to our 1st client (we hadn't even incorporated yet!), that lead to a good engagement that lead, years later to a board seat. Not so bad, eh? If you've read this far, you probably should be rewarded for it...so, I've share with you everything I now about writing cold e-mails:  **PS: This **[**cold-email guide**](https://timkilroy.com/cold-email)** is for sale....it costs $27 (a huge deal!)**

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Canonical URL: https://timkilroy.com/blog/from-a-cold-email-to-the-board-of-directors